Is this the line for Snoop Dogg Tickets?

Clearly... it must be (dumbass!).

I mean, all you have to do is look at the people IN the line w/me to know that your excellent skills of deduction are right on the money.

NOT!!
(I'm bringing this back by the way. Spread the word! "NOT" is back!!!)

The three people in front of me practically have their SSI checks in hand and the two people BEHIND me in line are deep in (loud) conversation in Spanglish, uhm, and no NOT (heh, Wrong NOT) the movie - you see boys and girls "Spanglish" is a cross between the English and Spanish languages.

For example:
Can I have the #3 plate: 2 enchiladas y rice and beans?
or
Queres Bud Lite? (Do you want a Bud Lite?)

It is fairly common in areas of a high concentration of people of Latino decent.

Meaning: if you don't speak Spanish in SA, you ain't shit!

I have a very limited Spanish vocabulary. Mostly a few curse words and some of the more popular and basic words. And no I did not learn them in the barrio or at mi abuela's casa. My extensive Spanish vocabulary is from the 4 (ok, it was 5) semesters of Spanish I squeaked through in college.

But I digress.

So as it turns out the genius who walked by the line I was in this morning was trying to make a joke. Apparently he did in fact KNOW it was not Snoop tickets we were waiting in line for.

I, like several other thousand San Antonio Spurs fans across the city, was waiting in line for one of the MOST ingenious money making schemes in recent time for our small poor big city.

And by "small poor big city" I mean, San Antonio has about 2 million people living here (that is if you count SA proper and all the little suburbs within it) and we are one of the POOREST cities in the country and yet... through it all we have maintained a more "small town" feel. It is not uncommon here in a city w/so many damn people to go to an event or to just go to the store and inevitably you WILL run into a family member or someone you know or used to work with. Never fails.

Anyway, so back to the money making scheme. The Spurs, the Express-News (our town paper), and HEB (S. Texas grocery store chain) decided to get together and sell what they call "SA Spurs Medallions". These bad boys sell at $3 a pop, which you can only get if you have a special coupon of the day that is only available in the newspaper and only FOR THAT ONE DAY! They are selling these medallions (basically, they are coins with a picture on them) at all 45 HEB stores in the city (of course, they are of limited quantity and OF COURSE there is a limit of 2 per person - so long as you have 2 coupons - meaning you bought 2 newspapers). They start selling these damn things at 8am EVERY MORNING. And if you ain't in line by 7:30 am, you are NOT getting a coin. And this ingenious scheme goes on for 17 days!! Yes, folks that over $50 a set! And in this town, you gotta get a set for each kid, each grandkid, your nieces and nephews, and maybe your significant other. Which for some families is their whole SSI check or their whole Unemployment check.

Fortunately, I am a daddy's girl - and have managed to only have to purchase 2 out of 7 so far. THANK GOD!

Anyway, because of all this ... all I can say is "Damn, I am in the WRONG bidness!"